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Why are Chief Learning Officers obsessed with ROI and what are they doing about it?

The challenge of demonstrating the business value and ROI of L&D teams is a persistent issue for many companies. Despite the potential for learning to make a significant contribution to the business, it can be difficult to convince CEOs and other senior leaders of its value. As Charles Jennings, Co-Founder of 70:20:10 Institute, remarks in this video, although the topic has been on the CLO agenda for as long as he can remember, “many CLOs haven’t cracked it”.

In this blog, we will explore the key questions that CLOs are asking when it comes to demonstrating the business value and ROI of their L&D teams. We will also outline some of the solutions organisations have tried so far to evaluate their effectiveness. By doing so, we will provide insights and recommendations to help organisations better understand and communicate the value of their L&D efforts.

CLOs and ROI

How do L&D teams go about demonstrating ROI?

It’s true that demonstrating ROI has been a challenge for many L&D teams for years, a simple Google search will return thousands of results on the subject going back years. One approach that some L&D leaders are taking is to bring more data skills into their teams. This includes using analytics tools to curate and analyse data related to training programs, as well as using learning data reporting and visualisation tools to communicate results. By doing so, L&D teams can better demonstrate their value to the organisation and help identify areas where learning programs can be improved and optimized to maximise impact.

Why do CLOs find demonstrating ROI difficult?

Before every iVentiv event, we ask you to tell us what areas you are focusing on and what questions you want to ask your fellow participants. “People/Data Insights, Measurement & ROI” was the fourth most popular category overall in the last 12 months, across all regions, but especially among Global Heads of Learning; 32% of respondents in L&D cited the category as a key priority, compared to 17% in Executive Development and 10% in Talent Management.

The primary barrier, as one Global Head of Leadership put it in their response, is obtaining high-quality “objective data”, inputting it into useful metrics for analysis, and creating innovative solutions, going “beyond happy sheets and completion rates”, which learning leaders feel are no longer satisfactory.

As Charles Jennings, Co-Founder of 70:20:10 Institute states, the “continued focus by L&D leaders on the challenge of demonstrating ROI and business value highlights L&D’s increasing visibility to executive boards.” CEOs have changing expectations, Charles explains, and for L&D to show measurable value is no longer an optional extra.

“It also highlights” Charles says, “the changing expectations of CEOs and their leadership teams. More than ever, senior managers expect L&D to contribute measurable value rather than simply being a cost centre.” The need for learning to demonstrate, in Charles’ words, “measurable value-add” means that they need “high-quality data” beyond simple “activity measures” like course completion rates.

Is measuring ROI the same as delivering it?

Many L&D teams have put their focus on learning in the flow of work, and the use of LXP’s that facilitate learning over training, with the aim of better demonstrating the function’s value to the organisation.

However, measuring and demonstrating ROI through analytics platforms is one thing, delivering the ROI is another. To put it bluntly, it might be the case that once learning teams start focusing on measurements and analytics, L&D leaders may realise that they are in fact not really delivering the ROI that they promise. To find and create real ROI, Fuse Universal offers a useful list of demonstrable examples of L&D’s impact on ROI, on how it can influence the bottom line of any business:

  1. The uplifts in business performance that engaged, continual learning can bring, particularly in relation to the frequency in which learners return
  2. Cost savings that the consolidation of learning platforms offers, across employee resource, computing power, and infrastructure
  3. Reduced onboarding time to enable employees to hit the ground running, and start driving profitability for the company as soon as possible
  4. Higher staff retention rates offer serious cost savings on the expensive hiring and training process
  5. Improved internal communication, saving costs, and gaining employees 20% (as they measure it) of their time back, a whole working day per week, to drive profitability

To dive into questions around ROI, analytics, and more, join an iVentiv Executive Knowledge Exchange and connect with like-minded leaders to discuss common challenges. Every session is free for global Heads of Learning and gives you a chance to take away new insights, learn from others, and build relationships.

Read more about ROI and the other top priorities for decision-makers in Learning, Leadership and Talent in the iVentiv Pulse 2023 Report.

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What Makes an Effective Learning and Development Team Event?

In today’s complex global landscape, even the most experienced L&D executives face a persistent challenge: ensuring alignment and collaboration within large Learning & Development teams spread across geographies, business units, and time zones.

Too often, L&D functions in multinational companies operate in silos. Teams set objectives independently, repeat each other’s work unknowingly, or miss opportunities to scale successful initiatives. Despite good intentions, the lack of structured knowledge-sharing and alignment can hinder progress, dilute impact, and ultimately affect how well organisations respond to change. 

So, how do you create an event designed to build a strong, connected L&D team that learns from each other and works towards a shared vision? Read on to find out.

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Instead, before diving into logistics, you should pause and ask the foundational questions that shape a purposeful, effective experience.

This guide explores the key questions to ask before you start planning an internal event to help you clarify objectives, understand your audience, and align the event with your broader organisational goals. Read more.

Why Customer Education Matters

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That’s where customer education events come in. 

These aren’t just glorified sales pitches. They’re strategic opportunities to deliver value, deepen relationships, and build communities around your offering.
When done well, these events don’t just teach; they transform customers into advocates. They help your business stay front-of-mind while giving your clients the tools and insights to succeed with your product or service at the centre of their strategy.

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For many Chief Learning Officers, the only regular opportunity to bring their teams together is the annual offsite or occasional away day.

The result often defaults into “team building”. Although icebreakers, marshmallow toothpick towers, and trust falls are activities that might boost morale, they rarely help a learning professional facing the practical pressures of AI adoption, skills taxonomies, or strategic workforce planning. 

Global teams need more than a bonding experience. They need shared language, shared strategy, and shared confidence to deliver. 

They need knowledge transfer, not just camaraderie. 

They need team learning.

This is where the distinction matters, and this is exactly what our blog discusses. Read it now.

A Framework for Running L&D Events with Global Teams

Leading a global Learning and Development function is both a privilege and a puzzle. You have talent in every corner of the world—people who understand local markets, cultures, and business needs—who often work in silos, separated by time zones, priorities, and communication styles.

The irony is clear: the very people responsible for enabling learning across the business often struggle to learn from each other. When global L&D teams rarely connect, knowledge gets trapped, duplication creeps in, and alignment suffers.

That’s where a well-designed team event comes in. Whether virtual or in-person, a thoughtfully structured gathering can do more than boost morale—it can create alignment, build capability, and spark collaboration that carries through the rest of the year.

This blog offers a practical framework for running effective L&D events for global teams—one that transforms an annual offsite or virtual workshop into a shared learning experience with measurable business impact. Read it now.

Solving the Knowledge Silo in Global Learning Teams

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Why?

Regional groups or functional departments often operate in isolation, creating, developing, and executing learning programmes with little visibility into what their peers are doing elsewhere. That isolation leads to duplicated effort, inconsistent practices, and lost opportunities for synergy.

In this blog, we’ll explore how thoughtfully designed events—virtual or in-person—can break down silos, strengthen global L&D collaboration, and foster sustained knowledge sharing across your organisation. Read it now.

Designing Events for Knowledge Sharing: Practical Techniques

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For anyone running a large global L&D operation, it can feel like trying to keep dozens of spinning plates in the air at once.

Yet when knowledge sharing breaks down, the costs are high: duplication of effort, inconsistent experiences, and ideas that never reach beyond the local team. The solution lies in intentionally designed knowledge sharing workshops and internal knowledge sharing events that make collaboration systematic, not accidental.

This blog explores how to design those events effectively, turning conversation into impact and connecting the dots across your global Learning organisation. Read it now.

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